The most important thing you need to pay attention to when choosing between breakfast nook sets is the shape and size of the room. The shape will determine the shape of your table and the size will limit the size of the breakfast nook table set. If your nook is just an extension of the kitchen and is rectangular or square, then a rectangular or square table would be most appropriate. However, some breakfast nooks are extensions of the kitchen but extend out into a half octagon. With this shape room you want to look into a round kitchen table. Once the shape is determined, you can turn to size. Measure the dimensions of your room carefully. Then, subtract three feet from each dimension to determine the maximum dimensions for your kitchen table. For example, if your room measures ten by eight, then the largest table you can accommodate is seven by five. The three feet is so there will be approximately eighteen inches of clearance between any edge of the table and any wall or divider. You need that space to pull chairs in and out.

Probably the next most important aspect to consider is the style or design of the furniture. This includes materials of construction, carvings, style of chair or bench, etc. If the rest of your home, including the kitchen is a more traditional or country style, then wooden tables and chairs are probably best suited to your decorating tastes. If your traditional décor is more formal then your chairs might have high backs with carvings and the table legs will be ornately shaped. However, if your traditional décor is more like shabby chic then the table and chairs will be plain. If you have a modern furnished home, then furniture made of chrome and leather would fit in better. The furniture in the breakfast nook should match the kitchen as much as possible. It should maintain the same color schemes in the cushions and placemats. If your backsplash has accent tiles of red and blue, chair cushions of the same color will set off the accents well.

Next, you might want to consider the size and age of your family. Large families with lots of small children will want to choose a corner breakfast nook set with plenty of bench seating so that they can accommodate the entire family comfortably. A corner breakfast nook set might not be appropriate for a family consisting entirely of adults because it is harder for them to slide in and out of the corner bench. Children have no problem with this task. Benches can seat more people than chairs. In fact, they sit three people for every two in chairs. In addition, corner benches are not pulled out as chairs are so you can actually fit a larger table in your kitchen nook space than if you use chairs.

On the other hand, if you do a lot of entertaining, then you should have mostly chair seating. People who are not as intimately connected as family members might not feel comfortable sitting next to someone else on a bench because bench seating encourages bodies to touch while chair seating ensures you have a personal protective bubble around you. Chairs are also more formal than benches so they are more appropriate for a room where you plan to entertain guests rather than just gather with your family.

The final consideration when you are picking out breakfast nook furniture is whether you have enough storage space in your kitchen. Most kitchens are always short on storage space and as a result, the counters overflow with appliances and the cabinets are bursting. If you have a breakfast nook set with storage space under the bench seats, you can move all the small kitchen appliances that you do not use every day into storage out of sight. They will still be close by if you want to use them, but they will no longer clutter up your counters and cabinets. Some other things you can store in your breakfast nook benches is extra table linens and large containers of food that would not otherwise fit in your kitchen. Until you have storage in the kitchen furniture set, your only other alternative was to store these things in closets or in the garage. The problem with closets is that things get piled on top of each other and it is hard to reach things. The problem with the garage is that you need to wipe everything down before you use it because of the possible contamination concerns with other things stored in a garage.

When picking out breakfast nook furniture, I like to think about the table first. It is the largest piece of furniture and it will be the biggest presence in the room. In order to utilize your breakfast nook space to the best of its ability, you want to get a table as large as possible. A good rule of thumb is to measure the dimensions of the breakfast nook and then subtract three feet from all sides. That is how big your table can be. The three feet is so that you can leave room for people to pull out chairs and sit down. Another aspect of the table to consider is the style and materials of construction. Whatever the decorating theme of your kitchen is will most likely dictate this point. If you have a modern kitchen with black countertops and glass door cabinets, a wooden table just would not look right. Something with glass or metal might work better. Remember to keep the theme going and you should be fine. The last characteristic of the table to consider is the table height. Table height can range from normal to what we call a high top. High top table require stools rather than chairs or benches. The type of breakfast nook that would be well suited to a high top table is one where you only have room for a table for two. Then, the high table is reminiscent of a café or bar.

Once you have decided on the table, the next step is to pick what you are going to sit on. As I said above, most breakfast nook sets are either chairs, benches, or a combination of the two. However, some will use stools if the situation is right. You want to balance the number of people you can sit at your table with the comfort of those individuals. Benches will allow for more seating, but they are not as comfortable as chairs. Another thing to consider is the style of the table you have chosen. You want to make sure that the style of the table lends itself well to benches or chairs. Modern looking tables do not go well with benches and high top tables do not go well with benches or chairs. One thing to keep in mind about benches is that they often come with extra under the seat storage space. Extra storage is a very good selling point, but you have to make sure it looks good too.

There is a style or technique of home decoration that goes something along these lines. You’re out shopping for a new couch for your living room when you see a dining table that would work really well in your breakfast nook. So you buy it. Sometime later, your sister has just updated her dining room furniture and offers to give you the chairs from her old set. Now you add a “new” set of chairs to the table you bought awhile back. Then one day you’re out antiquing and you spot an antique farm house bench that would just complete all the furniture in your breakfast nook. You have a new table, newish chairs from a completely different dining set, and now an antique bench. Nothing “matches,” but everything goes great together. Buying a breakfast nook table set is sort of the opposite of that, except for the everything goes great together part.

I like buying sets of furniture and I also appreciate the look that buying furniture piecemeal can bring to a home. I think the mildly obsessive compulsive aspects of my personality lead me to prefer matching sets of furniture. In fact, I can remember getting in deep trouble with my mother when I was young because I complained that the silverware she was serving for dinner didn’t match. She still reminds me of that to this day. Back to the topic at hand.

A kitchen breakfast nook set generally will have a table, a single bench without a back, and an “L” shaped bench with a high back. When a manufacturer uses the term nook, they are frequently referring to the L shaped bench part of breakfast nook dining sets. The corner shape and back are remarkably good at giving the feeling that your new breakfast corner nook set is a separate and distinct part of the house. As the name implies, you’re assured that all the pieces in your set will match. This definitely takes all the guess work out of making sure disparate pieces of furniture go together.

Prices for complete breakfast nook sets range from $300 (or less depending on quality) and go all the way up to $2000 before any delivery fees. A good value price point falls between $1000 and $1200. I’m always trying to maximize space so I tend to favor benches with built in storage compartments. These compartments are great for storing board games, toys, or art supplies. You will be surprised how much you can pack into a breakfast nook set with storage. I would not expect to pay a premium for storage functionality.

Here are a couple of breakfast nook sets that I think are a good value.

The Santa Fe Breakfast nook set comes with a corner bench with backrest, a rectangular table, and backless straight bench. This set will comfortably seat four or five adults. The contoured and smooth design plus the rich dark brown finish really give the furniture a Southwestern feel. However, the thing that makes this collection unique is the “variegated” slate inlay on the backrest of the L shaped bench. Unfortunately, the Santa Fe lacks any kind of built-in storage. All in all, this is a sharp looking set is well worth the roughly $1100 purchase price.

The Soho Delfino breakfast nook set comes with a rectangular table, two chair, two backed benches, and corner piece that connects the benches. This set features a modern design with chrome metal finish on the legs of each piece. The chairs and benches have padded cushions with stain-resistant microfiber covers. Each bench has a lift up seat that reveals a shallow storage compartment. The Soho comes in a number of colors. This collection won’t disappoint if you’re in the market for a black breakfast nook set. The microfiber cushion covers aren’t suitable as a substitute for leather, so if you have your heart set on a leather breakfast nook set, look else where.